The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud

562 pages

"At only fourteen, Nathaniel is a rising star: a young magician who is quickly climbing the ranks of the government. There is seemingly nothing he cannot handle, until he is asked to deal with the growing Resistance movement, which is disrupting London life with its thefts and raids. It's no easy task: the ringleader Kitty and her friends remain elusive, and Nathaniel's job - and perhaps his life - are soon at risk.

As the pressure mounts he is distracted by a new series of terrifying attacks in the capital. But is it the Resistance again, or something more dangerous still? To uncover the perpetrators, Nathaniel must take desperate measures: a journey to the enemy city of Prague and - worse - summoning once again the troublesome, enigmatic, and quick-witted djinni Bartimaeus. Meanwhile, Kitty and her fellow rebels are planning their most daring exploit of all - one that will make their fortune and change the history of London forever." -Dust Jacket

Much, much better. I think I'd assumed that Nathaniel would be like that other famous 11-year-old magician, good and willing to fight evil. But in Nathaniel's world magicians seek power and prestige at the expense of their fellow magicians and all their power comes from the demons they summon to do their bidding. Nathaniel doesn't really stand a chance in that world, being trained by those kinds of people so I had a little more empathy for him. He's still ambitious in this book, still arrogant and self-serving, but there's a faint glimmer of hope for him that he'll turn out all right.

More of Kitty and the Resistance is a great addition to this book. She's a commoner and likable, yet has some immunity to magic, which added an interesting element to the story. Their raid on Gladstone's tomb was exciting and released a very funny character. Bartimaeus comes across as even wiser and wittier than he was in the first book. He's still bound to do what Nathaniel commands but he also seems to make a few more independent decisions. He's like the wise grownup of the book. The three worlds collide and intertwine in this book and I'm hoping that Kitty and Nathaniel will eventually team up in the third...and that Nathaniel will finally grow up.

I think if you go into this series understanding that Nathaniel is not Harry Potter - in fact he's quite opposite in a lot of ways - you'll enjoy it more. It's still hard to nail down the exact time period of this story. There are cars and computers, but they refer to America as the colonies and make it sound like America is only developed along the eastern seaboard. Nathaniel goes to the aerodome rather than the airport to fly to Prague. The author is English so maybe those are still modern English terms, I don't know. They make it a bit confusing for me. I'm not sure if the author intended to make the exact time period a bit vague but it bugs me just a little.